


if you're broken i will mend you

by earlgrey_milktea



Series: milktea's saso2017 fills [18]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, First Meetings, Happy Ending, M/M, Prompt Fill, Sci-Fi Elements, mechanic bokuto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 11:52:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earlgrey_milktea/pseuds/earlgrey_milktea
Summary: akaashi comes in on a thursday morning, requesting koutarou's service.koutarou happily provides.





	if you're broken i will mend you

**Author's Note:**

> original prompt card [here](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/22249.html?thread=11792361#cmt11792361)
> 
> title from ed sheeran's "lego house"

Akaashi comes into his shop on a Thursday morning, holding a stereo half his size like it’s nothing. Koutarou drops a wrench on his toes and doesn’t even realize it until the bruise has formed.

“I was hoping you could fix this for me,” the man with the green, green eyes says. His voice is quiet, and Koutarou is reminded of late nights by the window, a single candle burning as he glances outside at the pouring rain. Koutarou has never been so invested in the quiet before.

“Of course! You came to the right place!”

“I should hope so. Your shop was hard to find.”

“Ah, sorry about that,” Koutarou says, chuckling. “It was the only place that was renting, and I wanted to open up my own shop, no matter what!”

“I see.” Intelligent green eyes scan his tiny shop, trailing over the mess of tools overflowing on the tables and workbench to the pile of random parts and wires littering the floor. “It’s cozy.”

Koutarou beams. “I’m Bokuto Koutarou, the best mechanic in town!”

“Akaashi,” the stranger responds, “Thank you for your help, Bokuto-san.”

 

 

 

 

Akaashi becomes a regular customer. He always comes in the mornings, when the shop is empty and Koutarou is just tinkling about. Not that his shop is ever  _ busy _ , but it’s still nice, these mornings, just the two of them. 

Akaashi brings in a variety of things for Koutarou to fix. Household items, vehicle parts, small android forms. They’re all easy enough, with Koutarou’s skill level, but still provides enough of a challenge that Koutarou enjoys. Sometimes he wonders what Akaashi does. The man doesn’t really talk about himself, but he listens to Koutarou’s every word like they’re all important. Koutarou really likes that.

Sometimes Akaashi stays for a bit, and watches Koutarou work. Koutarou has managed to clear a section of his tiny shop for the man to sit. He’d make tea and Akaashi would take it politely—green tea, or earl grey, with a spot of milk. As Koutarou bends over the latest work at his messy table, he’d chatter on and on about what he ate for breakfast that day, or who came into his shop the previous evening, or what kind of project he’s working on now. Akaashi is patient, and thoughtful, and funny in a smart, snarky sort of way.

Koutarou finds himself staring out the windows of his shop, distracted and always waiting for Akaashi’s next visit.

 

 

 

 

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi says, and there’s something wrong with his voice. He stands in the doorway of Koutarou’s shop, hunched over and swaying slightly instead of the proud, regal way he usually holds himself. “Bokuto-san,” he repeats, and Koutarou lets the screwdriver in his hands fall as he leaps over his chair to reach the other man.

“Akaashi! What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Bokuto-san,” Akaashi says. He lets Koutarou help him over to the extra chair by the wall—Akaashi’s Seat, as Koutarou has begun to think about it.

“Are you hurt? What’s wr—”

Akaashi catches Koutarou’s hovering hands, and Koutarou’s words die in his throat. The slender fingers wrapped around his wrist shake slightly, and something tinny and hollow rattles in every shallow breath Akaashi takes. When he finally lifts his head, the vibrant green of his eyes are replaced with a murky dimness, like a single flame flickering in a storm.

“I have one more job for you,” Akaashi says, and Koutarou hears a strange flatness in the quiet voice he loves so much. He lets go of Koutarou’s wrists, and Koutarou lets his arms fall to his sides as he watches Akaashi reach for the buttons on his shirt. He falters only once, and soon the pressed shirt hangs open to reveal the square outline of a hatch right where Akaashi’s heart should be. A faint symbol of a power button glows over the hatch, pulsing in time with what should have been Akaashi’s heartbeat.

“If you could, Bokuto-san, could you please... fix me?”

 

 

 

 

For the first time in three months, the OPEN sign hanging in the window of Koutarou’s shop is shut off. It’s completely silent, only the low hums of machines and the ticking of a clock somewhere keeping him company. Koutarou sets down his tools, stretches out his neck. He stands, and goes to brew some tea.

Akaashi doesn’t wake for two days. 

Koutarou has opened his friend apart and replaced the damaged parts, but there’s nothing he can do now. He checks Akaashi’s vitals every hour. Akaashi lies on the bench, eyes closed, body still, breathing steady. 

Koutarou takes to talking out loud while he works. He finishes other customer’s jobs, fiddles with his own projects. He can almost pretend it’s the same. But there’s no quiet laughter after one of his lame jokes, there are no questions about what he’s working on now, there are no green eyes that catch his when he looks up, reflecting the mismatched light bulbs Koutarou has strung up all over the place.

Koutarou brews tea, and waits.

 

 

 

 

Akaashi wakes up on a Thursday morning. 

Koutarou freezes mid-yawn as he enters his shop, meeting a familiar calm gaze framed by those messy dark curls. He lowers his hand from his mouth, hoping it’s not too obvious how much he’s shaking.

“Akaashi,” he says. “I mean, h-hello.”

“Hello,” the android returns. Green eyes scan him up and down, and then peers around the shop. “This is a cozy place.”

“It—It is, yeah...” Koutarou laughs, rubbing a hand through his hair. Something sinks in his chest, but he tries to keep his smile in place. “How are you feeling? Is anything else bothering you?”

“Yes.”

Koutarou moves closer. “Really? You should be back to normal, though, I’ve replaced the malfunctioning parts and rewired everything surrounding it...”

“I think this is something you can’t fix with your tools.”

The android sounds so certain, but Koutarou is frowning. If there is one thing he’s confident in, it’s his repairing skills, and nobody, not even Akaashi—or the shell of what Akaashi was—can tell him any differently.

“It’s here,” the quiet, water-smooth voice says, and Koutarou looks up to find green eyes right in front of him, so close, too close, “my heartbeat has been erratic ever since I laid my eyes on you, Bokuto-san.”

Koutarou’s eyes widen. “Akaash—”

Akaashi kisses him on a Thursday morning, with lips that are soft and warm and real, and Koutarou— 

Koutarou kisses back.

**Author's Note:**

> akaashi: leaking from his eyes  
> bokuto: [sam from _holes_ voice] i can fix that
> 
>  
> 
> @puddingcatbae on tumblr/twitter


End file.
